Tuesday, June 29, 2010

With the new season getting rolling on Thursday, here's the coming season's weekly anime calendar, showing what days shows are on -- both new shows (in red) and continuing shows.

For each show, the calendar includes highlights of staff and cast members, and has links to info pages in English and Japanese (mainly Anime News Network and official sites), as well as links to AnimeSuki forums. I find these calendars useful myself, and hope some of you may, too.

As is often the case, Thursday looks like an interesting day, with new shows Shiki (horror - starts next week) and Amagami SS (romance), as well as Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu (fantasy adventure/comedy starring Fukuyama Jun, Takagaki Ayahi, Ono Daisuke, and Sugita Tomokazu); Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakamatachi (a JC Staff school comedy with Itou Shizuka and Itou Kanae); the new season of Kuroshitsuji, with Mizuki Nana and Sakurai Takahiro; and continuing show Kaichou wa Maid-sama (shoujo comedy/romance).

Monday will see Highschool of the Dead (zombie horror from Madhouse), Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin (occult school comedy), and Nurarihyon no Mago (shounen supernatural comedy/adventure with Fukuyama Jun and Hirano Aya, and directed by the director of Simoun and true tears).

The new Sekirei series will be on Sundays, along with a list of enjoyable continuing shows: Yumeiro Patissiere, Giant Killing, and Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Shitteiru.

There is one potentially hilarious off-color comedy on Fridays (Mitsudomoe, set in elementary school, like Kodomo no Jikan or Kyou no Go no Ni). And there is another on Saturday (Seitokai no Yakuindomo, set in high school), along with the more standard catgirl harem ecchi of Asobi ni Iku yo.

As usual, nothing looks like being a masterpiece (except maybe Shiki). But also as usual, something may turn out to be better than we expect.

Watch out also for some interesting OVAs (listed in black), such as the Kure-nai OVA that will come out on Friday; and Yamakan's Black Rock Shooter, which will come out at the end of July. I've also listed a couple of near-hentai OVAs: the yuri Sono Hanabira ni Kuchuzuke wo Anata to Koibito Tsunagi, and a new Aki-Sora OVA. Both come out on July 30.

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comments:

After grabbing more major roles than just about anyone else for a couple of seasons, Kamiya Akira and Noto Mamiko are notable for their lack of any new listed roles and only one continuing role apiece. Similarly for Kugimiya Rie, who seemed to be everywhere just a year ago.

Even more extreme: I don't see Koshimizu Ami on any listed role this season. I don't think Purafini activities can really explain her absence. She only had one role last cour as well, and not on a very good show.

Do you have any thoughts here on what's going on? Seiyuu roles are feast or famine to some extent, sure, but major figures usually can get at least a couple good roles a season.

@skchai -- I really have no idea why Amisuke has been getting so few roles in good shows. She did have a major role in Omamori Himari, and a minor one in LadiesxButlers, and she has a fairly major one in Strike Witches 2. She spoke in her blog today about more work with Inoue Marina on Fiona's Travels, of which one drama CD came out earlier this year. The list of game roles on her Japanese Wikipedia page seems very long, so maybe she is concentrating on that area.

Hashihime

The "Hashihime" or "Bridge Princesses," are characters in the novel The Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari 源氏物語）. They are daughters of a disgraced prince, living alone with him in a small house at Uji, outside Kyoto. They are important characters in the last ten chapters of the novel.

The Genji can be considered the first real novel in the history of the world. It was written around 1000 AD by a Japanese court lady known as Lady Murasaki, or Murasaki Shikibu.

I think contemporary Japanese literature, including anime and manga, continues to preserve aspects of the Genji, among them sensitive psychological observation, a general passion for romance, and romantic interest in young girls. The main hero of the thousand-page novel, Prince Genji, had a number of present and former girlfriends living in his palace, and basically abducted his principal wife Murasaki when she was ten, marrying her when she was around 15.

notes

-- all Japanese names are written in Japanese order: surname first, given name second-- I claim no copyright on anything in this blog, unless otherwise stated